(BOOK REVIEW)
The compendium New Arab Revolt: What Happened, What It Means, and What Comes Next (publication date: May 1, 2011 by Council on Foreign Relations, US) covers key past events that defined today’s Arab world with an eye on future. With articles written by 49 authors in addition to three interviews and a documents section, this can be a useful reference book for anyone interested in the Middle East politics and society.
The compendium New Arab Revolt: What Happened, What It Means, and What Comes Next (publication date: May 1, 2011 by Council on Foreign Relations, US) covers key past events that defined today’s Arab world with an eye on future. With articles written by 49 authors in addition to three interviews and a documents section, this can be a useful reference book for anyone interested in the Middle East politics and society.
The treatise can be useful to understand how confiscation of an unlicensed vegetable cart of a 26-year-old street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi in a small Tunisian town led to nightmares for dictators Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, President of Tunisia and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
The compendium starts with providing readers with a regional map and an introduction by Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose (Gideon Rose predicts that other dictatorial regimes in the region are quite likely to face serious upheaval as well. True, Libyan dictator Moummar Gaddafi who ruled Libya from 1969 to 2011 with iron fist is now ousted through popular civil uprising aided by a NATO intervention.)
Then it deals with the past with five chapters written by Fouad Ajami (The Sorrows of Egypt, Foreign Affairs, September/October 1995), Martin Indyk (Back to the Bazaar, Foreign Affairs, January/February 2002), Bernard Lewis (Freedom and Justice in the Modern Middle East, Foreign Affairs, May/June 2005), and Steven A. Cook (Adrift on the Nile: The Limits of the Opposition in Egypt, Foreign Affairs, March/April 2009 and Is El Baradei Egypt’s Hero? Mohamad El Baradei and the Chance for Reform, ForeignAffairs.com, March 26, 2010).
The compendium starts with providing readers with a regional map and an introduction by Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose (Gideon Rose predicts that other dictatorial regimes in the region are quite likely to face serious upheaval as well. True, Libyan dictator Moummar Gaddafi who ruled Libya from 1969 to 2011 with iron fist is now ousted through popular civil uprising aided by a NATO intervention.)
Then it deals with the past with five chapters written by Fouad Ajami (The Sorrows of Egypt, Foreign Affairs, September/October 1995), Martin Indyk (Back to the Bazaar, Foreign Affairs, January/February 2002), Bernard Lewis (Freedom and Justice in the Modern Middle East, Foreign Affairs, May/June 2005), and Steven A. Cook (Adrift on the Nile: The Limits of the Opposition in Egypt, Foreign Affairs, March/April 2009 and Is El Baradei Egypt’s Hero? Mohamad El Baradei and the Chance for Reform, ForeignAffairs.com, March 26, 2010).
The treatise next explores future for the Arab world with five thought-provoking articles including Demystifying the Arab Spring: Parsing the Differences Between Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya by Lisa Anderson and Terrorism after the Revolutions: How Secular Uprisings Could Help (or Hurt) Jihadists by Daniel Byman, both first published in Foreign Affairs in May/June 2011.
What makes the compendium more relevant is inclusion of a complete section on Libya: Intervention in Libya that includes 13 articles analyzing present-day Libya from vivid angles including the role of US in toppling Gaddafi’s regime. We do not know the answer of question raised by Meghan L. O’Sullivan in the article “Will Libya Become Obama’s Iraq?” There are allegations of winning ugly in Libya by Michael O’ Hanlon in the article echoed by part of mainstream media.
The compendium has 15 articles in the section titled “The Cracks Spread”. This covers almost all Arab players in the region including Jordan (Why Jordan is not a Regional Domino by Robert Danin, first published in CFR.org on February 1, 2011), Iran (Iran’s Protests and Economic Realities, an interview with Suzanne Maloney, published in CFR.org on February 22, 2011), Palestine (The Arab Turmoil and Palestinians – Interview with Rashid I. Khalidi, published in CFR.org on February 25, 2011), Bahrain (Bahrain’s Shia Question: What the United States Gets Wrong About Sectarianism by Kristin Smith Diwan in ForeignAffairs.com on March 2, 2011), Iraq (Rage Comes to Baghdad: Will Iraq’s Recent Protests Lead to Revolt? by Raad Alkadiri published in ForeignAffairs.com on March 3, 2011), Syria (The Sturdy House That Assaud Built: Why Damascus Is Not Cairo by Michael Broning published in ForeignAffairs.com on March 7, 2011), Saudi Arabia (Rageless in Riyadh: Why the Al Saud Dynasty Will Remain by F. Gregory Gause III published in Foreign Affairs.com on March 16, 2011), Algeria and Morocco (Meanwhile in the Maghreb: Have Algeria and Morocco Avoided North Africa’s Unrest?, published in Foreign Affairs.com by Azzedine Layachi on March 31, 2011).
The compendium has 15 articles in the section titled “The Cracks Spread”. This covers almost all Arab players in the region including Jordan (Why Jordan is not a Regional Domino by Robert Danin, first published in CFR.org on February 1, 2011), Iran (Iran’s Protests and Economic Realities, an interview with Suzanne Maloney, published in CFR.org on February 22, 2011), Palestine (The Arab Turmoil and Palestinians – Interview with Rashid I. Khalidi, published in CFR.org on February 25, 2011), Bahrain (Bahrain’s Shia Question: What the United States Gets Wrong About Sectarianism by Kristin Smith Diwan in ForeignAffairs.com on March 2, 2011), Iraq (Rage Comes to Baghdad: Will Iraq’s Recent Protests Lead to Revolt? by Raad Alkadiri published in ForeignAffairs.com on March 3, 2011), Syria (The Sturdy House That Assaud Built: Why Damascus Is Not Cairo by Michael Broning published in ForeignAffairs.com on March 7, 2011), Saudi Arabia (Rageless in Riyadh: Why the Al Saud Dynasty Will Remain by F. Gregory Gause III published in Foreign Affairs.com on March 16, 2011), Algeria and Morocco (Meanwhile in the Maghreb: Have Algeria and Morocco Avoided North Africa’s Unrest?, published in Foreign Affairs.com by Azzedine Layachi on March 31, 2011).
Historical ties or economic interests with one party can develop biases while reporting international events such as September 11, 2001 attacks on United States of America or Israel-Palestine conflict. These biases are often the results of looking at things from a local perspective. While expressing anguish over the casualties in September 2001 terrorist attacks in United States, international media also blamed US for not taking into considerations interests of the Muslim world. What gives the compendium under discussion a western tilt is that Council on Foreign Relations seeks to guide US policy makers on foreign affairs matters. This is despite the fact that the Council claims to take no institutional positions on policy matters and is independent of the US government.
Inclusion of articles like “Are the Mideast Revolutions Bad for Women’s Rights?” by Isobel Coleman published in Washington Post on February 20,2011 gives the book a social dimension as well in addition to dealing exhaustively with the politics of the day. There are also 13 documents, including remarks by President Barack Obama on a new beginning delivered at Cairo University, Egypt on June 4, 2009.
